UGEC1281/JASP1120

Understanding Japanese
Languages and Culture
Kazuyuki NOMURA
8 October 2019
Apology
 Performatives
• Doing with words
– “When I say I do (take this woman to be my lawful wedded wife), I am not reporting on a marriage
, I am indulging in it” (Austin, 1961, p. 220)
• Austin, J. L. (1961). Philosophical papers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Examples of performatives
– Apology: I apologize for what I did.
– Advise: I advice that everybody leave right away.
– Promise: I swear that I won’t be late again.
– Prohibition: Smoking is not allowed on this train.
– Sentencing: You are sentenced to life (by this court).
– Declaration: “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America … do … solemnly
publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independe
nt States” (July 4, 1776)
– Performatives typically include performance.
• Performatives can be indirect
– You’re in my way. [= Yield to me immediately.]
– You’re stepping on my foot. [= Get your foot off of me.]
– Isn’t it too hot here? [= Turn on the air conditioner].
 Speech act theory
J. L. Austin & J. Searle
• A: Utterance acts
– Simple acts of making linguistic sounds (e.g. shouting, whispering, murmuring).
• B: Illocutionary acts
– Acts performed at the moment of saying something (e.g. thanking, apologizing, ordering).
• C: Perlocutionary acts
– Acts performed by effect of saying something (e.g. misleading, embarrassing, irritating).
• D: Propositional acts
– Acts of referring to something and then characterizing it (e.g. referring, predicating)
• Different speech acts may be concerned for a single form.
– “I’m not your friend any more.” [after quarreling with the interlocutor]
• [Illocutionary] declaring + [Perlocutionary] irritating + [Propositional] predicating
– “Thank you so much!” [after the speaker’s gained weight was pointed out]
• [Illocutionary] thanking + [Perlocutionary] embarrassing
• Speech acts must used in a proper context to achieve goals.
– E.g.) “You’re sentenced to life in prison”
– If this is said by a judge in the court, this utterance is felicitous as a legal sentence. If this is
said by a friend, this utterance is infelicitous as a legal sentence, but may be felicitous as a
joke or a sarcasm.
 Apology or gratitude?
• すみません Sumimasen
– Originally the polite negative form of sumu “to settle”.
– Apology: “Sorry for bothering you.” / Gratitude: “Thanks for your help.”
• 恐れいります Osoreirimasu
– Originally the polite form of osoreiru “to defer/to be humble”.
– Apology: “Sorry for your trouble (despite your high position).”
– Gratitude: “I appreciate your kindness (despite your high position).”
• ごめんなさい Gomennasai
– Originally the polite order form of menzuru “to pardon”
– Apology: “I beg your pardon.” / Gratitude “Thanks for your generosity.”
• 失礼しました Shitsurei shimashita
– Originally the polite past form of shiturei-suru “to be rude / to offend”
– Apology: “Sorry for being so impolite.” / Gratitude “Thanks for your tolerance.”
• 申し訳ありません Mooshiwake arimasen
– Originally the polite negative form of mooshiwake aru “to have an excuse”
– Apology: “I am wrong (and I understand I can’t be excused).”
– Gratitude: “I’m so grateful of you (I don’t know how to thank you). ”
 Previous Analysis of sumimasen
Ide (1998)
• Coulmas (1981): Indebtedness
– “the ethics of ‘indebtedness’ as the notion connecting the acts of apolog
y and gratitude in Japanese, since the act of thanking, which implies the
indebtedness of the recipient of the benefit, resembles apologies, where
speakers similarly recognize their indebtedness to the interlocutor” (p. 5
11)
– “(other) functions of attention-getter and leave-taking formula” (p. 512)
• Benedict (1946): 恩 on and 義理 giri
– Ruth Benedict, an American anthropologist, interviewed Japanese Ameri
cans in internment camps during WW2 and published an ethnography of
the Japanese culture called Chrysanthemum and Sword.
– “While I use the term ‘indebtedness’ in my analysis, I do not subscribe to
the rather biased view that Japanese people’s psyche is rooted on the co
ncept of ‘duty’ and ‘counter-duty’ (giri and on), as introduced by Benedi
ct (1946).” (p. 525)
 Ethnographic method
Ide (1998)
• What is ethnography?
– A detailed qualitative description of everyday life and practice, or “thick description” (Geertz, 1
973), of people who shares a culture.
• Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York: Basic Books.
• Research site
– “I have selected the reception counter at an ophthalmology clinic in downtown Tokyo as the pr
imary context for collecting sumimasen used in public discourse. In the clinic, two female doct
ors, a female nurse, and a female receptionist are on regular duty.” (p. 512)
• Participant observation
– “I observed and participated in the interactional context of the clinic, both as a patient and par
ticipant observer, recording the conversations during the regular operating hours of the clinic.”
(ibid.)
• Limitation
– “The primary source from which I obtained data for this study is restricted to one public setting
.” (p. 513)
• Research Objective
– “explore and describe the functional meaning of sumimasen in the realm of public interaction i
n Japanese society.” (ibid.)
 Goffman’s “Interpersonal rituals”
Ide (1998)
• Definition
– “‘interpersonal rituals’ are routine behaviors exchanged in face-to-face situati
ons that pertain to public life. These rituals consist of a remedial type and a su
pportive type.” (p. 510)
• Remedial interchanges (R)
– “there is a potential interactional offense between the interlocutors. Thus apo
logies, requests, and accounts are strategic remedial moves that transform wh
at could be taken as an offensive act into something acceptable” (ibid.)
• Supportive interchanges (S)
– “ritual gestures that are concerned with establishing, renewing, and continuin
g interpersonal relationships, such as greetings and farewell movements” (ibi
d.)
• Ide’s analysis of sumimasen
– “both a ‘remedial’ and a ‘supportive’ manner in discourse … beyond conveyin
g the semantic meaning of regret or gratitude in actual discourse.” (ibid.)
 Pragmatic functions of sumimasen
Ide (1998)
• Sincere apology (R)
– E.g.) A patient said sumimasen for being late for the appointment with the doctor.
• Quasi-thanks and apology (Mixed feelings of regret and thankfulness; R)
– E.g.) The receptionist said sumimasen for having to ask a patient to pay the exact amou
nt as she was in short of change.
• Request (R)
– E.g.) The receptionist said sumimasen for asking a patient to pay the charge.
• Attention-getting (R&S)
– E.g.) A patient said sumimasen when entering the clinic.
• Leave-taking (R&S)
– E.g.) A patient said sumimasen when leaving the clinic.
• Affirmative, conformational response (R&S)
– E.g.) A patient said sumimasen to the receptionist who invited the patient to enter the
consultation room.
• Acknowledgement marker (S)
– E.g.) The receptionist and a patient said sumimasen to each other passing something.
 “Alter-oriented” and “role-bound”
Ide (1998)
• Alter-oriented
– Sumimasen “symbolically implies an inherent feeling of indebtedness towards the other.” (p. 52
4)
– “the point of focus becomes the indebtedness that the speaker owes to the listener who has br
ought about the benefit to the speaker.” (ibid.)
– “the use of sumimasen in expressing thanks, apologies, and other functional meanings represe
nts one of the defining traits of Japanese public discourse, where the speaker behaves in an ‘alt
er-oriented’ manner by paying attention to his or her indebtedness towards the listener. This ‘a
lter-oriented’ character places the speaker in a humble position and makes an utterance sound
formal and polite.” (ibid.)
• Role-bound
– “its use symbolizes the involvement of a ‘social self’ with a ‘social alter’” (p. 524)
– “the interlocutors’ being bound to their social roles in public.” (p. 525)
• E.g.) teacher-student, service person-customer
– “it is generally a priori preferable to display the social self rather than the individual self.” (ibid.)
 Importance of 挨拶 aisatsu
Ide (1998)
• Definition
– “aisatsu is a broad folk notion which refers to a wide variety of fixed verbal formulae and
nonverbal rituals that mark demeanor” (p. 526)
– “aisatsu function to mark the social boundaries of the individual, especially in terms of bu
ilding his/her social face and persona, aside from the private persona.” (p. ibid)
• Cultural values
– “The ability to perform proper aisatsu is often associated with an individual’s qualification
as a person who is adequate and mature enough to be a satisfactory member of society.
Having good command of aisatsu is necessary to become a responsible ‘social person’ or
社会人 shakaijin, and this is reinforced both in the public and the private arena of one’s c
ourse of life.” (ibid.)
– “it is important for speakers of Japanese to have the pragmatic competence to manipulat
e aisatsu in public interaction, so as to mark social relationship between the interlocutors.
” (ibid.)
• Socialization and aisatsu
– “teaching appropriate use of aisatsu in different social contexts plays a significant role in
child-rearing.” (ibid.)
– “the norms of verbal agreement and empathy.” (ibid.)
 Suggested Readings
• Bachnik, J. M. (1992). The two “faces” of self and society in Japan. Etho
s, 20, 3-32.
– Japanese selves, inherently relational to other people, are claimed to be doub
le-sided: social and emotional.
• Kumatoridani, T. (1999). Alternation and co-occurrence in Japanese tha
nks. Journal of Pragmatics, 31, 623-642.
– This paper focuses on the function of ありがとう arigatoo “thanks” in contra
st to sumimasen, and argues that both gratitude and apology are related to e
mpathy management.
• Ohashi, J. (2008). Linguistic rituals for thanking in Japanese: Balancing
obligations. Journal of Pragmatics, 40, 2150-2174.
– 御礼 o-rei (culturally scripted ways of thanking) are considered as a balancing
factor for the equilibrium of indebtedness in Japanese interpersonal communi
cation.